Portrayal Of Women In Chronicle Of Death English Literature Essay

Women, generally play many roles in their lives and their portrayal of their character differs from different narratives. We see various personalities of women characters in the novel chronicle of a death foretold and the Theban play Antigone. The main characters I would be analyzing are Antigone, Ismene and Angela Vicario.

Although ancient Greece was a male dominated society, Antigone written by Sophocles portrays women as being strong and capable of making wise decisions on their own without any support from men. In this famous tragedy, Sophocles uses the characters Ismene and Antigone to show the different characteristics and roles that woman is typical of interpreting. Traditionally women are characterized as weak and inferior and Ismene is portrayed in this way. Through the character of Antigone, women finally get to present realistic viewpoints about their character.

The stereotypes presented in this tragedy address many perspectives of men at this time. Antigone’s spirit is filled with bravery, passion and rebellion; which allow her to symbolize the very essence of women. She is strong enough to do what her conscious tells her despite the laws of the land, set by the king. Many examples in the play prove that Antigone’s character is very capable of making her own decisions in the name of justice. First, Antigone opposes Creon’s law and buries her brother Polyneices because in her mind it wasn’t right to accept this discrimination. She does this because she is compassionate and loves her brother very much. Creon believes that his laws must be obeyed and would do anything to prevent any type rebelling against them, especially by a woman.

He is even more infuriated when he learns that a woman has broken his laws, this was highly an unexpected task done by a woman, this showed that the woman were portrayed as weak characters incapable of even thinking to break the laws set by the land. Secondly, Antigone shows how determined she is by accepting her consequences with pride. She does not try to hide that she is responsible for breaking Creon’s laws; moreover, she takes all the credit for her doings. All the while she maintains her strength because she truly believes in her actions. These sorts of actions ultimately prove that Antigone is courageous and willing to stand up to men, which was completely against the norm at this time. Her spirit refuses to submit to the role of a helpless woman like her sister Ismene’s character does.

Ismene is described to be a coward and refuses to help her sister because she feared men. Her character is a close representation of the viewpoints of the male gender regarding women. She is subordinate and weak-willed. She refuses to stand up to Creon due to her fears even though in her heart she knows that his laws are morally wrong and unacceptable. This type of behavior in famous works of art is very common for women to behave like this. Ismene proclaims, “We are only women, we cannot fight with men, Antigone!” this proves that she is unwilling to do the right thing if it means standing up to a man. Another example of how cowardly Ismene is portrayed is when she tries to take credit for burying her brother with Antigone. She is so scared that she will be left all alone without Antigone that she is willing to die with her. Then when he realizes she had no part in the crime does he describes her as, “….she never had a mind at all.” (Sophocles, pg.208) The play is also filled with instances of a sexist male viewpoint.

Creon states,1If we must lose, let’s lose to a man, at least. Is a woman stronger than we? This is evidence that Creon does not see women as equals to men. He feels that women have no rights to break the laws and therefore, must be punished for their irrationality. He eventually realizes that he has offended the Gods with his actions as ruler of Thebes. It is not until his own wife kills herself because of his tyranny against humanity does he realize his mistakes. This is way too late to redeem his lost loved ones or take back his disrespect toward women.

The Greek tragedy Antigone by Sophocles is one of the dramatic plays that display the different roles women play in society. The two sisters Ismene and Antigone portray major female characteristics. While Antigone plays the role of a strong and sensible woman, Ismene portrays the typical submissive and mild role. The character of Creon demonstrates through his tyrant rule, the sexist male viewpoint of the ancient Greek world. This play proves that gender disparity has always been present in society since many centuries ago.

In the novel chronicle of a death foretold the main female character we encounter in the book is Angela Vicario, who is the bride of the groom named Bayardo san Roman. She is in many ways one of the main characters in the story, and has the strongest narrative voice. In addition, she is center of the mystery that the narrator is trying to unravel, since she is the only one who knows whether or not Santiago was truly the one who took her virginity, and she remains mysterious at the end of the story because she never reveals whether or not he was guilty.